Ravalli County Sheriff’s Department Will Use New Technology To Warn Public

The Ravalli County Sheriff's Department is implementing a new electronic public notification system for critical incidents and natural disasters. Sheriff Steve Holton says this new Alert Sense technology is a significant upgrade.

“What we found out last year during fire season was the lack of a viable electronic notification system,” said Holton. “We just didn’t have it. The time it takes to go door to door and make those notifications, we were really looking for something where we could hit cell phones and landlines in particular with a prerecorded message.”

According to Holton, those who would like to sign up for Alert Sense can do so using the Ravalli County Sheriff's application.

“We provided a link on there that goes right to the Alert Sense sign up page and then they can just follow the instructions,” Holton said. “The great thing about Alert Sense is people can elect how they want to receive that notification, whether it is to their landline, cell phone, email, text message or all of the above.”

For those who don't have the internet or a smart phone, they can sign up to receive landline alerts at the Sheriff's office. Holton says Alert Sense gives them the ability to geographically target a certain area to warn people about any critical incident that should be avoided.